Filipino American Biblical Interpretation: Nascent Hermeneutics

Abstract

Although Asian American biblical interpretation has begun to firmly establish itself within academic biblical studies, Filipino American biblical interpretation remains underrepresented and virtually invisible within biblical studies in general and within Asian American biblical interpretation specifically. Filipino American biblical interpretation is developing in conversation with the traditions of Filipino biblical interpretation and theology but must reshape those traditions in the context of the US diaspora, while simultaneously developing its own traditions and drawing upon its own history, ethnography, and resources. This article reviews recent developments in both Filipino and Filipino American academic biblical studies, while also envisioning a path forward for Filipino American biblical interpretation. A brief application of some of the traditions of Filipino American biblical interpretation to 1 Cor 1:18–31 allows for these traditions to be illustrated rather than merely described.